Residual Impact of Previous Injury on Musculoskeletal Characteristics in Special Forces Operators

Background: Musculoskeletal injuries are a significant burden to United States Army Special Operations Forces. The advanced tactical skill level and physical training required of Army Special Operators highlights the need to optimize musculoskeletal characteristics to reduce the likelihood of suffering a recurrent injury. Purpose: To identify the residual impact of previous injury on musculoskeletal characteristics. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Isokinetic strength of the knee, shoulder, and back and flexibility of the shoulder and hamstrings were assessed as part of a comprehensive human performance protocol, and self-reported musculoskeletal injury history was obtained. Subjects were stratified based on previous history of low back, knee, or shoulder injury, and within-group and between-group comparisons were made for musculoskeletal variables. Results: Knee injury analysis showed no significant strength or flexibility differences. Shoulder injury analysis found internal rotation strength of the healthy subjects (H) was significantly higher compared with injured (I) and uninjured (U) limbs of the injured group (H, 60.8 ± 11.5 percent body weight [%BW]; I, 54.5 ± 10.5 %BW; U, 55.5 ± 11.3 %BW) (P = .014 [H vs I] and P = .05 [H vs U]). The external rotation/internal rotation strength ratio was significantly lower in the healthy subjects compared with injured and uninjured limbs of the injured group (H, 0.653 ± 0.122; I, 0.724 ± 0.121; U, 0.724 ± 0.124) (P = .026 [H vs I] and P = .018 [H vs U]). Posterior shoulder tightness was significantly different between the injured and uninjured limb of the injured group (I, 111.6° ± 9.4°; U, 114.4° ± 9.3°; P = .008). The back injury analysis found no significant strength differences between the healthy and injured groups. Conclusion: Few physical differences existed between operators with prior knee or back injury. However, operators with a previous history of shoulder injury demonstrated significantly less shoulder strength than uninjured operators as well as decreased shoulder flexibility on the injured side. All operators, regardless of prior injury, must perform the same tasks; therefore, a targeted injury rehabilitation/human performance training specifically focused on internal rotation strength and tightness of the posterior capsule may help reduce the risk for recurrence of injury. Operators presenting with musculoskeletal asymmetries and/or insufficient strength ratios may be predisposed to musculoskeletal injury. Clinical Relevance: Specific fitness programs to compensate for deficiencies in strength and flexibility need to be designed that may reduce the risk of injuries in Special Forces Operators

Association of mesenchymal cells and immunoglobulins with differentiating epithelial cells

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal-epithelial interactions play an important role in the physiology and pathology of epithelial tissues. Mesenchymal cells either associate with epithelium basement membrane [pericytes and perivascular monocyte-derived cells (MDC)] or reside within epithelium (MDC and T cells). Although intraepithelial mesenchymal cells were suggested to contribute to the epithelium physiology, their association with particular steps in differentiation of epithelial cells, interactions among themselves, and their fate remain unclear. We studied epitopes of mesenchymal cells and their products (immunoglobulins) in stratified epithelium of uterine ectocervix, which is one of the prototypes of complete cellular differentiation from stem into the aged cells. RESULTS: Perivascular CD14 primitive MDC associated with basal (stem) epithelial cells. Thy-1 pericytes of microvasculature secreted intercellular vesicles, which associated with Ki67 postmitotic epithelial cells expressing MHC class I. Intraepithelial T cells showed an association with veiled type MDC [dendritic cell (DC) precursors] among parabasal cells, and exhibited fragmentation after entering intermediate (mature) epithelial layers. Mature DC secreted CD68 and exhibited fragmentation after reaching mid intermediate layers. Binding of IgM was detected at the top of each layer: in the upper parabasal, upper intermediate, and most surface epithelial cells. IgG was confined to the entire superficial layer. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the phylogenetically and ontogenetically developed hierarchy of mesenchymal cells (MDC, pericytes, T cells) and immunoglobulins (IgM, IgG) accompanies differentiation of epithelial cells from immature into the mature and aged phenotype. Further studies of an involvement of mesenchymal cells in the regulation of tissue homeostasis may bring novel approaches to the prevention and therapy of tissue dysfunctions characterized by permanent tissue immaturity (muscular dystrophy) or accelerated aging (degenerative diseases)

Aphid-Responsive Defense Networks in Hybrid Switchgrass

Aphid herbivory elicits plant defense-related networks that are influenced by host genetics. Plants of the upland switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) cultivar Summer can be a suitable host for greenbug aphids (Schizaphis graminum; GB), and yellow sugarcane aphids (Sipha flava, YSA), whereas the lowland cultivar Kanlow exhibited multi-species resistance that curtails aphid reproduction. However, stabilized hybrids of Summer (♀) x Kanlow (♂) (SxK) with improved agronomics can be damaged by both aphids. Here, hormone and metabolite analyses, coupled with RNA-Seq analysis of plant transcriptomes, were utilized to delineate defense networks induced by aphid feeding in SxK switchgrass and pinpoint plant transcription factors (TFs), such as WRKYs that potentially regulate these responses. Abscisic acid (ABA) levels were significantly higher in GB infested plants at 5 and 10 days after infestation (DAI). ABA levels were highest at 15DAI in YSA infested plants. Jasmonic acid levels were significantly elevated under GB infestation, while salicylic acid levels were signifi40cantly elevated only at 15 DAI in YSA infested plants. Similarly, levels of several metabolites were altered in common or specifically to each aphid. YSA infestation induced a significant enrichment of flavonoids consistent with an upregulation of many genes associated with flavonoid biosynthesis at 15DAI. Gene co-expression modules that responded singly to either aphid or in common to both aphids were differentiated and linked to specific TFs. Together, these data provide important clues into the interplay of metabolism and transcriptional remodeling accompanying defense responses to aphid herbivory in hybrid switchgrass

Keeping it Real : An Evaluation Audit of Five Years of Youth-led Program Evaluation

Youth are increasingly seen as competent in participating in research and program evaluation, two activities previously reserved for adults. This paper is a report of the findings from an evaluation audit of Stand Up! Help Out!, a participatory action after-school youth leadership development program for disadvantaged urban youth that utilized youth evaluations to develop a best practices service model. The youths’ feedback assisted providers in improving services so that youth engagement in the program was 99% (by comparison with national highs of 79%). Here, we describe an important aspect of the process of youth-led program evaluation leading to such high youth engagement: How youth interviewed each other so as to optimize the authenticity of their program evaluations and contributions to program design. Drawing from over five years of program evaluation data collected by youth, the authors report on the youths’ experiences as informants and co-researchers, consider strategies used to help youth best describe their experiences in the program, and describe implications for other settings looking to incorporate youth-led program evaluation. Youth-led program evaluation has considerable promise for helping service providers make programs more meaningful for disadvantaged youth

Association of vision impairment and blindness with socioeconomic status in adults 50 years and older from Alto Amazonas, Peru.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and visual impairment (VI) or blindness in the rural Peruvian Amazon, hypothesizing that higher SES would have a protective effect on the odds of VI or blindness. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study of 16 rural communities in the Peruvian Amazon, consenting adults aged ≥ 50 years were recruited from ~30 randomly selected households per village. Each household was administered a questionnaire and had a SES score constructed using principal components analysis. Blindness and VI were determined using a ministry of health 3-meter visual acuity card. RESULTS: Overall, 207 adults aged ≥ 50 were eligible; 146 (70.5%) completed visual acuity screening and answered the questionnaire. Of those 146 participants who completed presenting visual acuity screening, 57 (39.0%, 95% CI 30.2-47.1) were classified as visually impaired and 6 (4.1%, 95% CI 0.9-7.3) as blind. Belonging to the highest SES tercile had a protective effect on VI or blindness (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.91, p = 0.034), with a linear trend across decreasing levels of SES (p = 0.019). This observed effect remained significant regardless of how SES groups were assigned. CONCLUSION: Belonging to a higher SES group resulted in a lower odds of VI or blindness compared to those in the lowest SES group. The observation of a dose response provides confidence in the observed association, but causality remains unclear. Blindness prevention programs could maximize impact by designing activities that specifically target people with lower SES

The Future of American Sentencing: A National Roundtable on Blakely

In the wake of the dramatic Supreme Court decision in Blakely v. Washington, Stanford Law School convened an assembly of the most eminent academic and professional sentencing experts in the country to jointly assess the meaning of the decision and its implications for federal and state sentencing reform. The event took place on October 8 and 9, just a few months after Blakely came down and the very week that the Supreme Court heard the arguments in United States v. Booker and United States v. Fanfan, the cases that will test Blakely\u27s application to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Thus the Roundtable offered these experts an intellectual breathing space at a crucial point in American criminal law. The event was built around six sessions, with shifting panels of participants doing brief presentations on the subject of the session, and with others then joining in the discussion. We are pleased that FSR is able to publish this version of the proceedings of the event-a condensed and edited transcript of the sessions

The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Survey of OVI Absorption in the Disk of the Milky Way

To probe the distribution and physical characteristics of interstellar gas at temperatures T ~ 3e5 K in the disk of the Milky Way, we have used the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) to observe absorption lines of OVI toward 148 early-type stars situated at distances 1 kpc. After subtracting off a mild excess of OVI arising from the Local Bubble, combining our new results with earlier surveys of OVI, and eliminating stars that show conspicuous localized X-ray emission, we find an average OVI mid-plane density n_0 = 1.3e-8 cm^-3. The density decreases away from the plane of the Galaxy in a way that is consistent with an exponential scale height of 3.2 kpc at negative latitudes or 4.6 kpc at positive latitudes. Average volume densities of OVI along different sight lines exhibit a dispersion of about 0.26 dex, irrespective of the distances to the target stars. This indicates that OVI does not arise in randomly situated clouds of a fixed size and density, but instead is distributed in regions that have a very broad range of column densities, with the more strongly absorbing clouds having a lower space density. Line widths and centroid velocities are much larger than those expected from differential Galactic rotation, but they are nevertheless correlated with distance and N(OVI), which reinforces our picture of a diverse population of hot plasma regions that are ubiquitous over the entire Galactic disk. The velocity extremes of the OVI profiles show a loose correlation with those of very strong lines of less ionized species, supporting a picture of a turbulent, multiphase medium churned by shock-heated gas from multiple supernova explosions.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJS. Preprint with full resolution images and all 148 spectra available at http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~dvb/o

Evaluation of Greenbug and Yellow Sugarcane Aphid Feeding Behavior on Resistant and Susceptible Switchgrass Cultivars

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is an emerging biofuel crop that serves as host for aphids. To discern the effects of plant age and possible resistance mechanisms, the feeding behavior of greenbugs (Schizaphis graminum Rondani.) and the yellow sugarcane aphid (Sipha flava Forbes.) was monitored on three diverse switchgrasses by the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique. Callose deposition and genes associated with callose metabolism were also analyzed to discern their association with plant resistance. There was a strong host effect on greenbugs feeding on lowland cultivar Kanlow at the V3 stage of development, as compared to the greenbug-susceptible upland cultivar Summer and plants derived from Kanlow (♂) × Summer (♀) (K×S) crosses. These data confirmed that Kanlow at the V3 stage had antibiosis to greenbugs, which was absent in the Summer and K×S plants. In contrast, similar effects were not observed for yellow sugarcane aphids, excluding significant differences in the time to first probe on Kanlow plants at the V1 stage and reduction in time spent on pathway processes on Kanlow plants at the V3 stage. These data demonstrated that Kanlow plants may have multiple sources of resistance to the two aphids, and possibly some were phloem based. Microscopy of leaf sections stained with aniline blue for callose was suggestive of increased callose deposition in the sieve elements in Kanlow plants relative to Summer and K×S plants. RT-qPCR analysis of several genes associated with callose metabolism in infested plants was equivocal. Overall, these studies suggest the presence of multiple defense mechanisms against aphids in Kanlow plants, relative to Summer and K×S plants

A Test of Highly Optimized Tolerance Reveals Fragile Cell-Cycle Mechanisms Are Molecular Targets in Clinical Cancer Trials

Robustness, a long-recognized property of living systems, allows function in the face of uncertainty while fragility, i.e., extreme sensitivity, can potentially lead to catastrophic failure following seemingly innocuous perturbations. Carlson and Doyle hypothesized that highly-evolved networks, e.g., those involved in cell-cycle regulation, can be resistant to some perturbations while highly sensitive to others. The “robust yet fragile” duality of networks has been termed Highly Optimized Tolerance (HOT) and has been the basis of new lines of inquiry in computational and experimental biology. In this study, we tested the working hypothesis that cell-cycle control architectures obey the HOT paradigm. Three cell-cycle models were analyzed using monte-carlo sensitivity analysis. Overall state sensitivity coefficients, which quantify the robustness or fragility of a given mechanism, were calculated using a monte-carlo strategy with three different numerical techniques along with multiple parameter perturbation strategies to control for possible numerical and sampling artifacts. Approximately 65% of the mechanisms in the G1/S restriction point were responsible for 95% of the sensitivity, conversely, the G2-DNA damage checkpoint showed a much stronger dependence on a few mechanisms; ∼32% or 13 of 40 mechanisms accounted for 95% of the sensitivity. Our analysis predicted that CDC25 and cyclin E mechanisms were strongly implicated in G1/S malfunctions, while fragility in the G2/M checkpoint was predicted to be associated with the regulation of the cyclin B-CDK1 complex. Analysis of a third model containing both G1/S and G2/M checkpoint logic, predicted in addition to mechanisms already mentioned, that translation and programmed proteolysis were also key fragile subsystems. Comparison of the predicted fragile mechanisms with literature and current preclinical and clinical trials suggested a strong correlation between efficacy and fragility. Thus, when taken together, these results support the working hypothesis that cell-cycle control architectures are HOT networks and establish the mathematical estimation and subsequent therapeutic exploitation of fragile mechanisms as a novel strategy for anti-cancer lead generation